Graphics cards frying?

[Diefer87]

So I got home today to find that my Mom's cat made a mess of my room, knocking over my PC monitor, speakers and CD's. I believe one of the speakers that was knocked off my desk struck my computer in some way.

I was able to turn my computer on but my Monitor wasn't receiving any kind of signal. I immediately tried hooking up a different monitor to the computer and got the same results. So I then tried switching out the graphics card with an older one that I had when I originally replaced the one in this computer. I had success with this graphics card at first, I was able to log into my computer and access the internet etc. But after about 10 minutes, my computer went to blue screen, and then the monitor lost signal immediately after. I then proceeded to put the first graphics card back into the PC, but it still didn't work. So now I have two graphics cards that don't work and I'm not sure what's happening to them. When I take either graphics cards out of the PC, they feel hot to the touch, not burning hot but hot enough to raise some alarm.

Anyone have any idea what might be happening?

The Graphics Card that I had been using for the past 4 months is a Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT. I have a 400W Power Supply which is at or above the recommended power for the card. I almost wonder if the motherboard is causing this? I'm not a computer whiz by any means but I do understand most terminology and am capable of replacing most parts in a PC.

Thanks for any help!

 

[gwailo247]

First question is if your computer was on when you last left it, and was it on or off when you found it? If it was off/off, then a short circuit is less likely. If it was left on, and it was off after the cat attack, then the accident might have shorted something out.

Next question, when you found the monitor, did it fall in such a way that the cable was too short, and so it ended up dragging the case with it, or putting extra pressure on the video card?
Cause if that happened, it might have tweaked the video card in the slot on the motherboard, and maybe even the slot.

What I would also do is take a very careful look around the motherboard there and see if there are any cracks, or other damage to the motherboard as a result of this.

When you put in the old graphics card and it worked briefly, were you using the monitor that fell, or the other one?

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

The second card probably just bsod'd on you because you have the wrong drivers. What was the card?

 

[gwailo247]

You figure it would have ran for 10 minutes if he was using NVIDIA drivers with a ATI card?

 

[Diefer87]

Yes my computer was on when I left it, I was downloading a large file. I left the screen off though while I was away. I believe the computer was still on when I got home, but I could not get either screen to come on(dual monitors, only one was knocked over though).

The monitor was not knocked off the desk, only knocked over where it was standing. All my cords for my computer are zip tied in two places, so if it was knocked off to cause strain on the cord, it would strain at the monitor and not at the PC. The speaker that was knocked off the desk landed behind the computer, it is possible it hit the plugs that are plugged into the back of the computer.

When I put in the old graphics card, it was working on the old monitor. I'm not sure what type of graphics card it is, whatever came with my computer when I bought it(I'm out of town for the weekend so I can't go look.) The current graphics card I was using is a Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT. But that does make since that it bsod'd on me cause of the wrong drivers.

I looked over the motherboard and everything looks normal to me. While I was in there I put the Geforce card back in the PC and turned it on, and it worked. I let it run for about 15 minutes with no problems, I then felt the card and it was hot enough to cause me some pain. I went ahead and shut it down after that.

I've heard of some cards that normally run at 150+ degrees, but I don't if it's normal for mine, I've never felt mine while it was running before.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

150C is not normal, so obviously that's normal for f.

 

[gwailo247]

It is possible that the card shut down due to heat. Are you saying 150 F or 150 C? Most people when talking about computer temperatures, even in the US, use C, so it makes a big difference. 150C means your card should be melting. 150F = 65C which is not that crazy at load.

Did you notice that the fan is working on the card? What speed is your fan running at? You can load up the NVIDIA software and it will tell you.

As far as the 'wrong' card drivers, this would mainly apply if your old card was ATI, and your new card is NVIDIA. But if your old card was an NVIDIA too, it shouldn't make too much difference, they'd use the same drivers. But there could be issues just due to new hardware.

What I would suggest is using driver sweeper to clean out your old drivers, put in the older card, load up whichever NVIDIA or ATI drivers you need to, and then run the computer with the monitor that did not fall over. If that all works fine, you can run a 3d benchmark to stress it a little bit, then you know that the computer is fine, but either the 9800 GT or the monitor has issues, and you can troubleshoot those at your leisure.